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A SKETCH OF THE LIFE 



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Theodore Medad Pomeroy 



1824— 1 90 J 



BY 
ROBERT W. POMEROY 



> > > 



PAPER READ BEFORE THE CAYUGA 

COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

JANUARY 26, 1910 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

It gives me great pleasure to come before this 
audience, before so many familiar faces, to speak 
upon a subject which is no doubt in a manner 
familiar to some of you though the early history 
of my father's life dates far back, I am sure, 
beyond the recollection of the people I see 
before me. In fact I was surprised to find 
how little I knew of my father's early life. He 
rarely talked about what he had accomplished. 
His conversation was seldom reminiscent. His 
thought seemed to be for the present or the 
future, about what he wanted to do or thought 
should be done. Hence my story of his early 
life is written principally from facts which I have 
learned from those who grew up with him, as 
well as from the public records and journals of 
that time. 

Theodore M. Pomeroy died March 23, 1905, 
at the age of 80 years. His success in life was 
due entirely to the fact that he had made the 
most of his opportunities. From a barefoot boy 
in a little lakeside village he worked his way 



through school, took up early the study of law, 
was in Congress four times and became Speaker 
of the House. Twice was he mayor of his city, 
was also State Senator and received an exceed- 
ingly complimentary vote for gubernatorial nom- 
ination at Saratoga in 1879. 

I begin the story of my father's life in this 
way to call your attention to the fact that 
although he rose to some prominence in the 
affairs of the nation he earned by downright 
hard work all that came to him. 

Starting his active life with a good education 
he continued active and unusually well informed 
to the end. He never lost his insight into pub- 
lic affairs, was always interested in the national, 
state and local politics and the changing condi- 
tions in politics and in business. His business 
ideas were modern and his methods were miod- 
ern. He was interested in scientific discoveries 
and possibilities, in all lines of progress and 
ever hopeful of the future. He was fond of 
young people and interesting to them. My 
friends were genuine friends of his and on his 
visits to me in Buffalo if I asked him what 
he wanted to do, he would say, " Whatever you 
would do if I were not here." He would go to 
my office, lunch with my friends, go to young 
men's clubs or help me plant trees on a new 
farm with as much interest as I could have. 

Though ever ready to aid anyone or advise 



them he never meddled with their affairs, criti- 
cised their methods or ridiculed the results of 
their acts. With me his advice was ever ready 
when asked but I could go to what college I 
liked, enter what profession or make my resi- 
dence where I thought best. He would not bias 
my decision by his personal preference of col- 
lege, occupation or domicile. 

His home life was most happy while all lived. 
No business cares ever intruded. His even, 
bright disposition kept him always the same, 
ever free from worry and always interested in 
others. He would take a Sunday afternoon nap 
in a room full of children that might well dis- 
turb the neighbors. 

Theodore Medad Pomeroy was the second son 
of Rev. Medad and Lily Maxwell Pomeroy and 
the fourth child of a family of nine. His parents 
resided in what was known as the old Doctor 
Cummings house on the south side of Genesee 
street hill in Cayuga village. That house has 
since been torn down. In later years the family 
lived in a house, still standing, just north of the 
residence of Mrs. Fanny Kyle and now occupied 
by Mr. Wylie. The best years of his boyhood, 
however, were spent in the village of Elbridge 
where he went to live when he was nine years 
old. His father was a devoted minister in the 
Presbyterian church and as a young man tem- 
porarily resided in Otisco, in the second decade of 



the nineteenth century. He came to this state 
from Massachusetts and his bride from the 
state of Connecticut. When he first came to 
Cayuga he preached at the " Old Stone Church " 
at the Cross Roads near Union Springs, as there 
was then no Presbyterian church at Cayuga. 
Some years later he was called there to 
preach in the white frame church now standing 
on Genesee street in the village and overlook- 
ing the broad waters of the lake. In 1833 he 
moved to Elbridge, returning to Cayuga in 1840, 
where he lived for many years, when he retired 
as a preacher and moved to Auburn, where he 
died in 1868. 

Samuel Van Sickle of Cayuga village says that 
Medad Pomeroy was a hearty, good-natured 
man and well liked. He was a Mason and was 
much sought for as a speaker at Masonic meet- 
ings in the neighboring towns, for like his son 
Theodore, he was blessed with a gift of oratory, 
though he was more deliberate in his speech 
than Theodore, who spoke like a rapid fire gun 
when roused by enthusiasm. 

My father's early life is told as follows by my 
Aunt Sybilla, his elder sister: 

*' Theodore Medad Pomeroy was born at Cay- 
uga, December 31, 1824. When about one 
year and a half of age he fell from a chair on 
which he was standing, striking the back of his 
head on another chair, was unconscious for a 



time and for twenty-four hours they thought 
the skull seriously fractured. Then he rallied 
and seemed to recover from it, but until twenty 
years of age, he could take very little violent 
exercise without suffering a severe headache. 
He was always fond of books. At three years 
of age he would cry to go to school with Anna, 
Henry and me, who were older than he. Finally, 
when he was three years and four months old, 
father and mother decided to let him go, telling 
the teacher, William B. Scobey of Union Springs 
(and a splendid teacher), to keep him until 
school closed, thinking he would be tired of the 
confinement and willing to stay at home, but 
instead he hurried through his dinner to return 
to school and went as regularly as any of us 
from that time. In 1832, our father found that 
his four older children were quite far advanced 
in their studies and, as his salary would not allow 
them to go to boarding schools, he must find a 
church needing a pastor in some village where 
there was an academy, so that they could board 
at home. In January, 1833, the church at 
Elbridge was vacant. They had had some appli- 
cants, but at a society meeting could settle on 
no one. As they left the church a few gathered 
at the door. Then Judge Charles Merriman 
(father of Corydon H, Merriman, so long con- 
nected with the National Bank of Auburn) a 
friend of father's for years, suggested father and 



after a little talk Mr. Lombard said : ' It is a 
bright, moonlight night and splendid sleighing. 
I have a span of fine horses and double sleigh. 
Suppose we go to Cayuga tonight.' The result 
was Nathan Munro, Hiram Mather, Esq., Judge 
Charles Merriman and Mr. Lombard were soon 
on their way, reaching Cayuga, a drive of eight- 
een miles, a little before i a. m. ; went to the 
tavern, had their horses cared for and Judge 
Merriman piloted them to father's house where 
he had often visited. Father soon had a rous- 
ing fire and business under way. After some 
three hours' talk all was settled. Mr. Munro 
had promised to build an academy as soon as 
possible, father might find a principal imme- 
diately and the school could be started in the 
ballroom of an old unoccupied hotel. There 
was also a promise of a new parsonage and 
all arrangements made for moving the family 
in just three weeks. All these plans were 
carried out and the 13th of February, 1833, 
found father, mother and eight children safe at 
Elbridge. But a few months passed when Mr. 
John Adams, who had been for years principal 
of Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., came 
to Elbridge looking for a school. His age, sixty 
years, had driven him from Andover. He and 
his family came in August. The school was 
opened in September in the ballroom. Theodore 
was but little over eight years old but in his 

8 



studies had finished all in the district school. 
The by-laws forbade receiving into the academy 
any under thirteen years of age but they passed 
him and he entered the first day. Theodore was 
very small and slender but kept up in all his 
classes. Mr. Adams was the principal but three 
or four years and was succeeded by Rev. Lemuel 
L. Pomeroy, then a student at Auburn Theolog- 
ical Seminary. His father was a cousin of our 
father. At thirteen years of age Theodore 
was fitted to enter Hamilton College at Clinton, 
N. Y., but they received no one under fifteen 
years of age so he must wait two years ard 
enter as a Junior. Mr. Lemuel L. Pomeroy 
was a graduate of Hamilton College and well 
understood all their ways and studies. Theo- 
dore was so young he could find no occupa- 
tion to help along, so he studied with Mr. Pom- 
eroy at the Academy and paid his tuition by 
building fires and caring for the Academy, 
his brother working with him, although Henry 
had no desire for college, only a business edu- 
cation. Our father's salary was but seven hun- 
dred dollars and he had a family of nine children. 
He was anxious they should have an academic 
education at least and would have made any 
sacrifice to give them a college course but 
Theodore was the only one who wished it and 
he was happy and willing to do anything to help 
obtain it. I recollect hearing father say about 



that time, ' Theodore never refused to do any- 
thing I told him to do. I really believe if I told 
him to tip the church over he would at least 
make the attempt.' At fifteen he entered Ham- 
ilton College, two years in advance, was there 
only as Junior and Senior. Father said when he 
met him at the depot returning from graduating 
(graduated from college at seventeen years and 
six months, ranking in the first division of six 
in a class of twenty-four members) his heart 
smote him, Theodore looked so pale and slender. 
Barto, a classmate, who was with him said: 
' Mr. Pomeroy, what are you going to do with 
Theodore now?' Father replied, ' I think I 
shall get him a gun and fishing tackle and let 
him work awhile with them.' And he did. 
Theodore enjoyed it greatly and when the winter 
schools opened he was engaged to teach in a 
schoolhouse near James Thompson's in the town 
of Springport, four miles south of Cayuga, near 
the stone church at the Cross Roads. The next 
winter he kept a ' select school ' in the north 
room of father's house (the one on the hill at 
Cayuga). Theodore could not work for farm- 
ers in the summer on account of his headaches. 
In 1844 our uncle, ThomBsorMaxwell, was keep- 
ing a hotel on State street, Auburn. He offered 
Theodore a room and board free of charge 
which he gladly accepted. He then commenced 
the study of law in Mr. Seward's office. In 

10 



November that dread disease, malignant ery- 
sipelas or 'black tongue,' raged in Auburn. 
Uncle was attacked with it. Mother went out 
to Auburn to care for him (he was a bachelor). 
Theodore was the next one to yield to it. 
Mother sent him home to Cayuga. Although 
he came on the cars alone, after his recovery he 
had no recollection of that or anything that took 
place for four weeks. The night of Theodore's 
twentieth birthday he was unconscious for a 
long time and all thought he would soon be gone. 
Sister Anna begged father to send for a homeo- 
pathic physician. The day before, Dr. Robin- 
son of Auburn, who had just commenced that 
practice, came out but gave no encouragement 
and would not come again. Then father sent 
for Dr. Childs of Waterloo. He came at nine 
that evening and stayed until eight o'clock next 
morning. He came four nights. Dr. John 
Thompson of Cayuga and William Allen of 
Auburn were there with us eight days and nights, 
anxiously watching the effects of homeopathic 
remedies. Not a drop of stimulant did Theo- 
dore take but gained his strength naturally 
and from that time was entirely relieved of his 
headaches. His hair, which had been coarse and 
straight, came in fine and curly and black as it 
could be. How beautiful it was ! and kept so 
as long as he lived. When Theodore recovered 
he returned to his law studies at Auburn in per- 
il 



feet health and enjoyed unusually good health 
all the rest of his life of eighty years. 

I have been able to write but a page or two 
at a time, resting for days between. Would 
gladly do more and better but remember the 
hand that penned this was eighty-eight years 
old last July." 

After his graduation from Hamilton, owing to 
the efforts of a few of the more ambitious schol- 
ars of the school at the Thompson district, my 
father secured that school for the winter. The 
trustees had been in the habit of hiring a teacher 
who would do the work for the least money 
without regard to his other qualifications. The 
teacher was not in these times an overpaid man 
nor was he particular as to the manner in which 
he was paid. He rarely, if ever, saw cash but 
was content to receive his wages in boarding 
around and in available produce of the farm. 
He conducted the school on whatever plan he 
chose but was seldom employed except during 
the winter months. The wages paid for a four 
months' term were usually from $8.00 to $12.00 
per month. Six of the boys of this district 
who were anxious for an opportunity for more 
advanced instruction prevailed upon the school 
officers to secure the services of young Pomeroy 
as a teacher for the Spring term by paying a 
salary of $18.00 a month. These young men 
were Henry and Lewis McFarland, John and 

12 



William Schenck, David Everett and Peter Yaw- 
ger, now all dead. My father was but eighteen 
years old but he had the advantage of a good 
education and was able to push the school work 
along at a wonderful rate compared with the 
way in which it had been done before. The 
boys of the school were greatly pleased. No 
money, they said, was ever expended to better 
advantage. One night in each week the ad- 
vanced class met to review their lessons and 
strong friendships were formed among them. 
During this time he formed life-long friend- 
ships with parents and pupils alike and he 
was an ever welcome guest at their firesides. 
Although too young to vote he took an active 
part in the Henry Clay and Frelinghuysen cam- 
paigns and made speeches in different school- 
houses throughout the country. The principles 
he advocated were public improvements, a pro- 
tective tariff and a free school. 

On May i, 1843, at the age of eighteen, my 
father left the home of his parents in Cayuga 
village and took up his residence in the adjoining 
village of Auburn where he entered as a law 
student the newly established office of Beach & 
Underwood. William H. Seward, who had just 
resumed the practice of law after serving as Gov- 
ernor of the State in 1838 and 1840, was counsel 
for the firm. Later the Honorable Christopher 
Morgan of Auburn and the Honorable Samuel 

13 



Blatchford, subsequently one of the Associate 
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, became associated with the firm. With 
my father there entered that office as students 
two other young men, James R. Cox, who had 
just moved to Auburn from New York city, 
and the late Horace T. Cook, who for so many 
years held the office of Treasurer of Cayuga 
County. The offices were situated in what was 
called the old Beach Block, nearly opposite the 
present William H. Seward & Company's bank 
on Genesee street. Mr. Cox, in speaking of 
those early days in the law office, said that 
"Pom", as my father was known to his asso- 
ciates in those days, was of excellent temper and 
disposition and though a good student he was 
always ready to laugh at a joke. This could 
have been as well said of him in his eightieth 
year. 

After three years as a law student he passed 
his examinations and was admitted to practice 
as an attorney May 23, 1846, at the last term of 
the old Supreme Court held in the city of New 
York and his certificate, which now hangs in my 
law office, was given under the seal of the court 
and the hand of J. L. Richardson. It seems 
that at that time law students from the central 
part of the State were required to go to New 
York for examination for admission to the bar. 
It was in those days much more of an undertak- 

14 



ing to go from Auburn to New York than it is at 
the present day. Mr. B. B. Snow says: "I 
have heard Mr. Pomeroy say that on that occa- 
sion he left Auburn at midnight on the Auburn 
& Syracuse Railroad, reached Albany in time to 
take the boat for New York the next night and 
landed in New York the next forenoon." 

Father did not immediately open an office of 
his own but continued for a while in the office of 
Governor Seward. Mr. Snow says of this period : 
" My acquaintance with Mr. Pomeroy dates 
back to the fall of 1846. I was then a school- 
boy in the old Auburn Academy preparing for 
college. Mr. Pomeroy was a * briefless barris- 
ter' having been admitted to the bar a short 
time before. Being dependent upon his own 
resources for a livelihood, he was glad to accept 
any honorable employment that would add to 
his scanty income. Neither of the two teachers 
of the Academy was versed in advanced mathe- 
matics and Mr. Pomeroy was called in to teach 
geometry for one hour each day. Being one of 
his pupils, an acquaintance and friendship was 
established between us that lasted throughout 
the remainder of his life." 

In 1849 father had a desk in the office of the 
late Parliament Bronson and later in the year 
opened an office in connection with William 
Allen, Esq., under the firm name of Allen & 
Pomeroy. This continued until the year 1855, 

15 



when he formed a partnership with David Wright, 
the father of Mrs. D. M. Osborne, which lasted 
until 1868. Always active in politics, he was in 
1847, at the age of twenty-three, elected by the 
Whig party to succeed Jacob R. Howe as clerk 
of the village of Auburn. It is interesting to 
note that my father's public career started just 
when Auburn started its career as a city. He 
was Auburn's first city clerk and at the time of 
his death had been at the service of the village 
and city, whenever needed, for fifty-nine years. 
According to the minutes signed by T. M. 
Pomeroy, village clerk, which are on file at the 
City Hall, the new village officers met to organize 
on the morning of April 12, 1847 and, after tak- 
ing the oath of office, Daniel Hewson assumed 
the President's chair. Josiah Sherwood, Zebina 
M. Mason, Rowland F. Russell, Andrew V. M. 
Suydam, Daniel Wood worth, Theron Green and 
Joseph Morris were sworn in as village trustees. 
At the next meeting which was held at six o'clock 
the following evening, Chauncey M. Markham 
was sworn in as the eighth trustee; John Olm- 
sted was made village treasurer; Robert Peet 
clerk of the market; Thomas Strath, pound 
master; Sylvester Schenck and Lorenzo W. Nye, 
fence viewers and James H. Bostwick, village 
surveyor. The other officers were William 
Howe, sealer of weights and measures ; Thomas 
Munger, Clark Masten and William Peres, con- 

16 



stables ; also Martin Strong-, Simpkins Snow and 
Sylvester Bradford, commissioners of streets 
and Jabez Gould, scavenger. 

During the following year the city officers 
were engaged in the usual procedure, in settling 
disputes, in the laying of sidewalks and in open- 
ing the new streets of the slowly growing vil- 
lage of Auburn. When Auburn was incorporated 
a city with a population of nearly 8,500 inhabi- 
tants, my father was elected city clerk under 
Auburn's first mayor, Cyrus Curtis Dennis. 
About this time came up the matter of the free 
school system of Auburn which had its origin in 
the law of 1849. Honorable Christopher Mor- 
gan of Auburn was then Secretary of State and 
ex-officio Superintendent of Schools. Sec. 7 of 
the Act provided that in '* Each city where free 
and gratuitous education was not already estab- 
lished, laws and ordinances might and should 
without delay be passed providing for and secur- 
ing and substituting the system in each of their 
common, ward and district schools." This fea- 
ture of the law was presented to the Common 
Council of the city of Auburn in January, 1850, 
by Benjamin F. Hall, who appeared on behalf of 
Lewis Paddock, Esq., who but recently died at 
the residence of his daughter at Palisades, N. J., 
and who was then principal of district school 
No. I, and it led to the appointment of City 
Clerk T. M. Pomeroy and Levi Johnson, a vet- 

17 



eran school teacher, as a committee to draft a 
special free school law for Auburn. The law 
was duly drawn and passed by the legislature 
April lo, 1850. My father had, through letters 
in the Advertiser, strongly opposed the adoption 
of the feeble school law as at first proposed, 
which had vaguely laid the burden of the taxa- 
tion and assessment upon the Common Council 
without giving sufficient power. The new law 
created the Board of Education, composed of 
one trustee from each school district elected 
annually, one commissioner from each ward of 
the city, the mayor who was ex-officio president 
of the Board, and the city superintendent who 
was ex-officio clerk of the Board. The Board 
thus constituted was invested with supreme con- 
trol of the districts, schools and teachers, and 
the disbursement of school moneys. 

It was at this period of his life that my father 
came nearest to having a military career. He 
became a private in the ranks of the old Auburn 
Guards, Captain Segoine. a company of militia 
which had been organized in 1820 by the citizens 
of Auburn to protect the villagers and control 
the inmates of the State Prison in case of an 
outbreak. The guardsmen were fairly well drilled 
and at least imposing on parade with their tall 
shakos, white cross belts and blue uniform coats 
with high collars which caused the soldiers to 
hold their heads up. They were armed with 

18 



long flintlock muskets and could load and fire 
with precision, if not with accuracy, if the time 
was not pressing. In the early 50's he served 
as a volunteer fireman and was for a number of 
years foreman of old Hose 4. He was succeeded 
in this office by General William H. Seward. 
At a meeting of the new Common Council 
held at noon March 10, 1851, Aurelian Conkling 
succeeded himself as mayor but City Clerk Pom- 
eroy surrendered his office to William F. Segoine. 
Among the bills presented at the last meeting 
of the old Common Council was one from the 
retiring city clerk for " One quarter's services, 
$62.50." Mr. Pomeroy's aggressiveness had won 
him some notice from his party and having by this 
time gained proficiency in the profession of law 
he was nominated by the Whigs for the office 
of district attorney and elected by a majority of 
about one hundred. The new district attorney's 
youthfulness and inexperience caused him con- 
siderable opposition in his own party when he 
was first elected but he won his first case which 
came soon after he took office, being successful 
against a strong defense conducted by three 
experienced lawyers, George Rathbun, Paris G. 
Clark and Samuel Blatchford. His prosecution 
in this case, in which a Venice farmer, John 
Baham, was under indictment for the murder of 
a peddler named Adler and which rested entirely 
upon circumstantial evidence, ended all doubt of 

19 



his fitness and at once established him firmly in 
his profession. The late Thomas A. Johnson, 
presiding judge at the trial, pronounced it the 
best case of circumstantial evidence he had ever 
known and stated even then his intention to 
prepare the case for preservation. 

In 1853 Theodore M. Pomeroy was re-elected 
as district attorney and served a second success- 
ful term, at the close of which he was chosen for 
Member of Assembly by the RepubHcans of the 
second district of Cayuga and served in the 
legislature in 1857, but for private reasons de- 
clined re-nomination. As one of the committee 
on cities of the assembly that session he was 
largely instrumental in shaping the legislation 
respecting the government of cities and espe- 
cially in securing the passage of the famous Met- 
ropolitan Police Bill which was intrusted to his 
personal charge during the various stages of its 
construction. My father's youthful appearance 
while in the assembly was the subject of much 
comment in the New York papers, a clipping from 
one of which reads : "We like the royal name of 
Pomeroy which falls on the ear with a softer 
sound than Snooks, Hogge or Potts. Mr. Pome- 
roy is a native of Auburn, graduated when quite 
young with high honors, and read law with his 
present partner, David Wright. He is consid- 
ered a safe counselor and an able advocate, is an 
easy, graceful and fluent speaker, has been dis- 

20 



trict attorney and acquitted himself jvery hand- 
somely while in that position. He was formerly 
a Whig. This is his first term at legislating; he 
was one of the secretaries of the Republican cau- 
cus held at the Capitol the night before the organ- 
ization of the House. He is orthodox in his 
religious belief, a friend of temperance, and a 
man of unquestioned integrity. He is a man of 
about twenty-six years of age, of small stature 
and looks like a precocious boy but he thinks 
and talks like a man." 

While he was serving his second term as dis- 
trict attorney, on Sept. 4, 1855, my father was 
married to Miss Elizabeth Leitch Watson, the 
second daughter of the late Robert Watson of 
Auburn. My mother died in 1892, after a happy 
and devoted married life of thirty-seven years. 
Their five children were Janet Watson Pomeroy 
who died in July, 1882, at the age of twenty-four 
years, Mrs. Charles I. Avery of Auburn, Mrs. 
Frank R. Herrick of Cleveland, Theodore M. 
Pomeroy, Jr., and myself, Robert Watson Pom- 
eroy, of Buffalo. 

Speeches in political conventions and even in 
such deliberative assemblies as the Federal Con- 
gress and State Legislature are apt to be per- 
functory deliverances ; they neither strengthen 
nor change the dominant sentiment ; they do not 
mold conclusions nor make votes. The pur- 



21 



poses of the leaders and the edicts of the cau- 
cuses are more potent than the most fervid 
eloquence. A few speeches, however, have 
even in recent times had immediate persua- 
sion, sweeping over audiences with resistless 
power, carrying everything- before them, revers- 
ing previous opinions and neutralizing prear- 
ranged plans. Such a speech was that of T. M. 
Pomeroy at the Republican State Convention of 
1858. In that year the Republican party was 
rapidly growing in the esteem of the North. It 
had attracted to itself the masses of the old 
Whig organization and a large portion of the free- 
soil element of the Democracy as well as hosts 
of the younger voters of the land. It had car- 
ried eleven of the sixteen free states in 1856 and 
the signs of its approaching triumph of i860 
were multiplying. Seward, Sumner and Wade 
were leaders of the new forces in the Federal 
vSenate and the great debate between Lincoln 
and Douglas was on in Illinois. The Republican 
party, to be a success as a national movement, 
had to establish itself in this the greatest state 
in the union and some of the leaders, as a mat- 
ter of expediency, had planned a coalition with 
the so-called American party whose cardinal prin- 
ciples were based on religious bigotry and hatred 
of foreigners, especially if they were of the 
Catholic faith. Race and religious feeling ran 
high. The "Know-Nothings" as the Ameri- 

22 



cans came to be called, because to preserve 
secrecy of movement the members were in- 
structed to say " I don't know " to any question 
asked with reference to the party, had attained 
considerable power in New York state and the 
chance to make a combination with them im- 
pressed many of the able party leaders. Seward 
never had any sympathy with this movement; 
he was too broad, too tolerant of the rights of 
every American citizen to accept such doctrines 
as those preached by the "Know-Nothings" 
but it is an historical fact that Thurlow Weed, 
then the recognized leader of the new-born Re- 
publican party, favored the fusion plan. He 
thought, with the assent of Mr. Seward, that an 
arrangement could be made with the Americans 
and a combined ticket nominated which would 
certainly be ratified at the polls and when the 
two conventions met on the same day in the 
city of Syracuse it was generally believed that 
an alliance between them would be brought 
about. The plans, it was assumed, were too 
well perfected to be disturbed by any meddle- 
some member of the convention whatever might 
be the underlying sentiment of the Republican 
masses. 

Mr. Pomeroy, however, saw the danger of such 
a course and by a brilliant speech stayed the 
action of the convention, brought the assemblage 
to a realization of the danger of an alliance of the 

23 



character proposed and a straight party ticket 
was named. The Republican convention met 
at Wieting Hall at noon of Wednesday, Sept. 8 
and was called to order by Edwin D. Morgan, 
chairman of the state committee. The roll of 
delegates revealed a splendid array of names; 
some had already achieved reputation in the 
public service, others were to become famous in 
the momentous era upon which the nation was 
about to enter. Among them were Thurlow 
Weed from Albany County and with him was 
Henry H. Van Dyck; T. M. Pomeroy and Wil- 
liam Beach from Cayuga, Walter L. Sessions 
from Chautauqua, Lucius Robinson from Che- 
mung and Charles L. Beale from Columbia. 
Ward Hunt represented Delaware, E. G. Spauld- 
ing, the " father of the greenback," John L. 
Talcott and Benjamin Welch represented Erie ; 
James Wood, Jr., came from Livingston and 
Samuel P. Allen from Monroe; James Nye, sub- 
sequently United States Senator from Nevada 
and E. D. Morgan were among the New York 
members ; Ellis Roberts was from Oneida and 
John Bigelow of the N'ezv Ycrk Evening Post from 
Orange; DeWitt C. Littlejohn, who had been 
twice speaker of the Assembly and was to be 
elected three times more, came from Oswego and 
George W. Schuyler from Tompkins. Chaun- 
cey M. Depew, then but two years out of Yale, 
represented Westchester. Ezra Graves of Her- 

24 



kimer, a jurist of excellent ability, was made 
temporary chairman and in his opening address 
sounded the keynote of Republicanism in that 
the party held to non-interference with slavery, 
where it existed, but cherished unyielding hos- 
tility towards its extension. Daniel T. Jones of 
Baldwinsville, who had been a member of the 
thirty-second and thirty-third congresses, was 
made permanent chairman. The question of a 
union with the American party was precipitated 
by a resolution of Mr. Beale of Columbia for the 
appointment of a committee of one from each 
judicial district to confer with a like committee 
from the American convention then in session 
at the Empire House. After an ineffectual at- 
tempt to proceed to the nomination of a candi- 
date for Governor, the convention adjourned 
until the next day. Upon reassembling on the 
morning of Sept. 9, the conference committee 
reported in favor of a joint ticket. It was ap- 
parent that the report was favored by a majority 
of the convention ; the managers had so decreed. 
It seemed to astute politicians that the union 
assured a majority of the votes of the state and 
that the Republicans could not, single-handed, 
be successful. As the report was about to be 
adopted. Judge Cowles of New York moved 
that it be referred to the committee on resolu- 
tions to report upon the wisdom of a united 
ticket. F. W. Palmer of Chautauqua opposed 

25 



the motion and then came the speech of Mr. 
Pomeroy. 

Here a bit of preliminary history will not be 
out of place. From the first Mr. Pomeroy, as a 
radical Republican, would have nothing to do 
with the proposed fusion with the Americans. 
On the morning of the convention Mr. Seward, 
acting as he thought for the good of the Repub- 
lican party, sent word to Messrs. Beach and 
Pomeroy to call upon him. Mr. Beach went and 
came away embarrassed with a request from 
Mr. Seward not to antagonize the plans of Mr. 
Weed. Anticipating the nature of the interview 
Mr. Pomeroy, on the plea of urgent private busi- 
ness, did not obey the summons and went to 
Syracuse unfettered by any pledges to the Re- 
publican chieftain. 

My father had not intended to speak at the 
convention but as the debates progressed he was 
disturbed by the gravity of the crisis, feeling 
that the opposition had not been fairly repre- 
sented on the floor. He had a seat in the front 
of the hall near the reporters' table and just as 
the question was about to be put on the motion 
of Judge Cowles, Hugh Hastings, who had 
known the m.ettle of young Mr. Pomeroy and his 
readiness of speech at Albany, hurriedly said, 
•' Pomeroy, don't let this go by default." Mr. 
Pomeroy sprang to his feet and let loose his feel- 
ings in a flood of indignation against what seemed 

26 



to him a surrender of the highest principles in 
the matter of a doubtful political expediency. 
His words were spontaneous and he could recall 
few of them when he had completed his out- 
burst of speech but from point to point he was 
urged along by the responsiveness of his hearers 
as well as by his own vehemence. The conven- 
tion was in an impressionable mood, for con- 
science was already asserting itself. It was a 
speech that lived. Andrew D. White has said 
of it that it was the only speech he ever heard 
that had the power to absolutely convert a delib- 
erative body from a pre-conceived purpose. In 
the course of it Mr. Pomeroy said that the con- 
vention had been in session for over twenty- 
four hours and stood shivering and afraid to do 
its duty and this in a party which had leaped into 
existence in an instant and carried everything 
before it. It now acted as if it shrank from 
putting its candidates into nomination without 
courting the Americans. He was ashamed of it. 
The American party was the same as it was a 
few years before when Erastus Brooks and 
Daniel Ullman were its godfather and god- 
mother. It had never been re-baptized. It was 
a pro-slavery party now as it was when the North 
Americans left it. He blushed for the commit- 
tee which had accomplished nothing but tame, 
impotent conclusions. Should such be the mes- 
sage of the Empire State to the people of Kansas 

27 



after the battle they had fought for freedom? 
The banner of Republicanism must not be low- 
ered one inch nor should any other than the 
motto, " Liberty and Human Rights " be embla- 
zoned upon it. This was not the time to dilute 
the platform but to insist upon pure Republi- 
canism. 

The speech revolutionized the convention, the 
conference committee was discharged and the 
convention nominated a ticket of its own with 
the name of Edwin D. Morgan, the first of the 
war governors of New York, at its head. Mor- 
gan was elected by over 17,000 majority and 
New York was in line with the Union when the 
legions were marshaled as the guns of Fort 
Sumter were silenced. From that time on, dur- 
ing an active political career covering a period 
of more than a score of years, Mr. Pomeroy was 
recognized as a potent political factor in the 
party which he did so much to establish. 

In the spring of i860 he was appointed one of 
the delegates from his state to the Republican 
National Convention at Chicago and acted as 
secretary in its deliberations. Being a resident 
of Auburn and close to Mr. Seward, no one felt 
more keenly than he the overwhelming disap- 
pointment following the defeat of Mr. Seward in 
the nomination for the presidency nor accepted 
the result with a stronger sense of duty to the 
party to which he belonged. In a speech to the 

28 



men of Auburn upon his return from the Chicago 
convention Mr. Pomeroy ably reviewed the char- 
acter of Abraham Lincoln and said he believed 
him to be a man eminently worthy of support. 
" We are now called upon to act from duty," he 
said. " Had Mr. Seward been nominated we 
could have worked for love and duty but let us 
not falter." 

On Sept. 5, i860, the name of T. M. Pomeroy 
was placed in nomination for member of Con- 
gress by the Republican party of the 25th Con- 
gressional district, composed of the counties of 
Cayuga and Wayne, and he was elected by an 
unprecedented majority. He took his seat for 
the first time at the extra session of the Thirty- 
seventh Congress convened by the President, 
July 4, 1861. The Washington newspaper cor- 
respondents referred to him as the youngest 
looking member on the floor. In describing 
him one of them said : " Mr. Pomeroy of Auburn 
is small in stature, with keen black eyes, a pecu- 
liarly expressive countenance and somewhere 
near as smart as chain lightning, at least when 
he deals with lower law Democracy. He is one 
of the most energetic and efifective debaters in 
the House and brimful to running over with 
that kind of Republicanism which is found in 
the now somewhat antiquated document known 
as the Declaration of Independence. The lions 
of buccaneer Democracy fare hard when they 

29 



fall into his hands and he occasionally handles 
certain old fogy Republicans without gloves." 
He was nominated by acclamation Member of 
Congress in 1862, 1864 and 1866 from the then 
Twenty-fourth Congressional District, compris- 
ing the counties of Cayuga, Wayne and Seneca, 
and each time re-elected by a large majority. 
His entire term of service as Member of Con- 
gress comprised the Thirty-seventh, Thirty- 
eighth, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth terms of 
Congress and the entire period of the adminis- 
trations of Presidents Lincoln and Johnson. 
This position he held for eight years, which was 
the longest period up to that time during which 
any representative from his district had held the 

office. 

These were trying times in the history of the 
nation. The great civil war, the death of Presi- 
dent Lincoln, the unsettled condition of affairs 
at the close of the war and the matter of the 
impeachment of President Andrew Johnson re- 
quired grave consideration. During the Thirty- 
seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses my father 
served as member of the committee of foreign 
affairs and during the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth, 
as chairman of the committee on banking and 
currency. His attention was mainly directed to 
the financial questions growing out of the war 
and subsequent events have justified the cor- 
rectness of the opinions he then held and 

30 



expressed. He was frequently called upon to 
preside over the deliberations of Congress as 
chairman when in committee of the whole and 
in the Speaker's chair he displayed complete 
familiarity with parliamentary law and marked 
ability as presiding officer. His re-election dur- 
ing these years could not be a matter of doubt. 
His constituents were well satisfied with his 
course in Congress and he was put forward on a 
platform which was the Union, the Constitution, 
the Law and the speedy and effectual crushing 
of the Rebellion. His experience and education 
were obtained by the very troubles which he was 
to aid in settling. He was respected and held 
in high esteem by his fellows in Congress and he 
stood very close to the government. He took 
such time as he could spare from his duties at 
Washington to come to Cayuga county and 
assist in the securing of recruits for the army 
of the Union. A poster which I have preserved 
reads as follows: "War meetings at Moravia, 
Milan and Pennyville will be addressed by Hon. 
T. M. Pomeroy and Amzi Wood. The i6oth 
Regiment, Col. C. C. Dwight, already has 500 
men. Signed J. P. Jewett, Capt." 

He and other prominent men of the locality 
attended meetings in all the neighboring towns, 
delivering addresses urging all available men to 
enlist and fill out the rapidly thinning regi- 
ments at the front, where, as usual with our 

31 



enthusiastic but untrained volunteers, disease, as 
well as bad beef and bullets, was doing its work. 
The volunteer element was nearly all absorbed 
in the new regiments which had gone out of 
Cayuga and recruiting was slow work. Many 
of the towns seemed entirely destitute of young 
men. Three thousand had already gone out of 
the county and the roll of the drum fell upon 
the ears of few who were liable to draft. It 
was feared that if conscription came it would 
clear the county of all its able-bodied men. 
The name of the man who had urged them to go 
forth and fight to preserve the Union was remem- 
bered by the young men on the way to the 
front and by their commander. From Fairfax 
Seminary, Virginia, came the following under 
date of Dec. 5, 1862 : " The name of the camp 
of the I nth Regiment, N. Y. S. Volunteers at 
Fairfax Seminary, Virginia, will hereafter be 
known as Camp Pomeroy, in honor of our Mem- 
ber of Congress from the Twenty-fifth Congres- 
sional District at home, by order of C. D. 
MacDougall, Lieut. Colonel commanding; H. H. 
Segoine, First Lieut, and Adjutant." 

On March 31, 1865, the House passed the con- 
stitutional amendment which forever abolished 
slavery in the United States. The enthusiasm 
and excitement over the matter was intense. In 
a letter to my mother which my father wrote from 
Washington February i, 1865, the display of 

32 



the feeling at the capitol was well portrayed. 
He said: " The papers will of course furnish you 
with more glowing accounts than I can give you 
of the proceedings of yesterday but still I cannot 
forbear giving mine also. It was a great day 
and I do not think the surrender of Lee's army 
would have elicited a wilder enthusiasm than 
greeted from floors to galleries the announce- 
ment of the passage of the constitutional amend- 
ment forever prohibiting slavery within the juris- 
diction of the United States. The galleries were 
full at the opening of business in the House but 
long before the vote was taken they had become 
densely crowded and hundreds had been admit- 
ted to the floor. The two preliminary votes 
which were had, neither of which showed quite 
a two-thirds vote in our favor, wrought up 
the anxiety and interest of all to the utmost. 
The first change from the Democratic side 
on the final vote was my especial friend Mr. 
English from Connecticut who had never pub- 
licly announced his intention but it was gen- 
erally supposed he would vote with his party. 
When at the call of his name he clearly re- 
sponded 'aye,' there arose all over the House a 
half suppressed applause which the Speaker 
found it difficult to check. When Ganson re- 
sponded 'aye,' it was evident that the amend- 
ment was carried, as his was a change from a 
previous vote and decided the result. The 

33 



speaker had great difficulty in checking again 
the applause which threatened to break out into 
a general uproar. Woods, Pendleton, Mallory 
and a few others of the extreme pro-slavery men 
knotted themselves into a group as the further 
calls proceeded, looking as if Gabriel's final 
trump had blown and they were about to be 
called to account for deeds done in Congress. 
A great many who voted against us were really 
gratified at the result but lacked the moral 
courage to act up to their personal convictions 
against the platform of their party. Even Sam 
Cox had promised to vote for the resolution if 
necessary and had prepared a written speech to 
deliver in vindication of his change upon the 
question; whether he would have given the 
requisite vote had it been necessary I do not 
know but I do know that he had promised to do 
so, had prepared his speech and within a few 
minutes of the time his name was called had 
promised one of his Democratic friends to vote 
with him in the affirmative. He had besides, a 
letter from Mr. Guthrie, Senator-elect from 
Kentucky, advising him to vote for it and 
another from the editor of the New York World 
stating that it should not be made a party 
question but that each member should vote 
upon his own conviction. Notwithstanding, 
the force of habit was too strong for poor 
Cox and his name stands recorded in the nega- 

34 



tive. Holman of Indiana who has been really 
a war Democrat and was last fall thrown over- 
board by his party for being so, but could not 
nevertheless rescue himself from the constitu- 
tionally Democratic horror of emancipation, re- 
marked as the vote was being taken, 'I shall 
vote in the negative but we are burying our own 
corpses in doing so.' I mention these things 
only to show how thoroughly demoralized, if I 
may use that word in this connection, even the 
political leaders of the Democratic party had 
become, by the force of events upon the ques- 
tion of emancipation. Such a scene was never 
witnessed in the House as when the result was 
announced. The Republican members instinc- 
tively arose to their feet and thousands in the 
galleries, justified by the example of the mem- 
bers, sprang to their feet and there went up round 
after round of such enthusiastic shouting as was 
never before heard in the American capitol, 
accompanied by the waving of handkerchiefs, 
throwing of hats, shaking of hands and other 
psychological demonstrations in general such as 
would have done credit to a backwoods camp 
meeting. It is not six years since the same 
galleries were lined with ruffians from Baltimore 
and other cities with their pistols lying before 
them and otherwise exposed to view to endeavor 
to intimidate the Republicans from the organi- 
zation of the House. In the evening the hotels 

35 



were filled with crowds shaking hands and con- 
gratulating each other on the result. Being 
pretty thoroughly tired from my two nights' ride 
on the cars and the excitement of the day I went 
early to my room and to bed, a happy man, for- 
giving all the long-winded speeches and other 
annoyances of the Thirty-eighth Congress in the 
gratification of having been enabled to record 
one vote in the hundred and nineteen which have 
forever swept slavery from the American conti- 
nent. Little doubt is entertained here of the 
ratification of the amendment by the requisite 
three-fourths of the states and then the work is 
forever done. I called this morning to see Mr. 
Seward but he was not in. I saw Fred, however, 
and they are greatly delighted with the result of 
yesterday. The governor has taken great inter- 
est in the question and has thrown great personal 
effort into the work of its passage. The result 
will be to greatly simplify our foreign and domes- 
tic relations, to reduce the war to a simple ques- 
tion of physical strength and material resources 
and to remove the one great obstacle that lay in 
the way of national restoration and reconstruc- 
tion. I do not think the millennium is to be imme- 
diately ushered in by an act of congress, not 
even the Thirty-eighth, but you will forgive me 
if my exuberance of joy at this great political 
victory should gild the horizon of the future to 
my eyes in bright and glowing colors. I may 

36 



be too sanguine but I believe that we are now 
experiencing the dead swell of a storm nearly- 
spent, of a revolution nearly exhausted ; that 
the passions born of slavery will die with it so 
that when peace comes it will be peace and the 
Union will be a fact, not a name, and prin- 
ciple and not compromise will furnish the law of 
the life of its constitution. Excuse the length 
of this letter but I must have vent somewhere 
and this may answer the purpose and save me 
the infliction of a speech upon the floor." 

The last term of the Fortieth Congress expired 
at noon, March 4, 1869. Schuyler Colfax, the 
Speaker of the house, had been elected Vice- 
President with President Grant and was to take 
office at noon that day. In order to be rid of 
the pressure of business always accompanying 
the last day of every expiring Congress, Mr. 
Colfax tendered his resignation when the House 
convened at 1 1 o'clock on the morning of 
March 3. 

Mr. Colfax made a long speech of sentiment 
and regret at the severing of his connection with 
the House and in accordance with his wish Mr. 
Wilson of Iowa assumed the chair pro tern. 
Mr. Woodward of Pennsylvania offered a resolu- 
tion expressive of regret at the Speaker's resig- 
nation, also of congratulation upon his advance- 
ment. It was then, upon a motion of Mr. Dawes 
of Massachusetts and with the unanimous agree- 

37 



ment of the House, that Mr.Pomeroy of New York 
was declared duly elected Speaker in place of Mr. 
Colfax resigned and amid great applause Mr. 
Pomeroy was conducted to the chair by Messrs. 
Dawes and Woodward. The oath was admin- 
istered and upon assuming the chair, Mr. Pom- 
eroy thanked the House for the high compli- 
ment conferred upon him, saying that it had 
been his pleasure for eight years to mingle hum- 
bly with the laborers of the House and in retir- 
ing, as he expected to do within a brief period, 
forever from all political of^cial connection with 
the American Congress, he would carry with 
him at least this gratification, that in all these 
years he had never received from a member of 
the House one word of unkindness or one act of 
disrespect; the unanimity with which he had 
been chosen to preside over the House for this 
brief period was proof of itself that it carried 
with it no political significance but was evidence 
of a personal consideration and great kindness 
which he could never forget. 

A message was then sent to the Senate inform- 
ing that body of the selection of Mr. Pomeroy 
as Speaker and a committee of three waited 
upon President Johnson for a similar purpose. 
The House continued in session until well into 
the night and resumed work the following 
morning in order to clear up all its unfinished 
business before the beginning of the new admin- 

38 



istration of Grant and Colfax. The Fortieth 
Congress expired by limitation of law at noon, 
March 4, 1869, and the Speaker pronounced it 
adjourned sine die, closing his remarks with the 
words: "Our personal relations, our sympa- 
thies, our kindnesses and all the ties that bind us 
to each other will forever live as a part of our- 
selves." The House unanimously adopted a res- 
olution of thanks for "the very able, dignified 
and impartial manner " in which the duties of the 
Speaker had been discharged for the brief but 
trying period during which he had occupied the 
chair. Mr. Pomeroy considered this unanimity 
of all the political factions of the House as a 
great personal compliment and it was the expres- 
sion of the press throughout the country, that 
he would have been chosen next Speaker had 
he run again for Congress. 

My father was at this time forty-four years of 
age, in the prime of life; not a large man but 
erect and alert, with flashing black eyes that 
were quick to see, and a mind quick to under- 
stand. His hair was thick and black as jet. 
He wore a mustache and a small black beard 
and dressed usually in black. 

With the revival of business interests at the 
close of the war there came a great stimulus to 
the carrying trades and competition was awak- 
ened by the enormous profits of the express 
companies of the country. The Bankers' Ex- 

39 



press, in which the business was limited to the 
carrying of money and valuables, was organized 
in the autumn of 1865 but soon became merged 
into the older companies. The citizens of 
Auburn then thought it time to organize a new 
company based upon the co-operation system of 
labor and unite the merchants of the country as 
stockholders in a business in which they them- 
selves were the principal customers. It was in 
the spring of 1866 that the Merchants Union 
Express Company was organized with Elmore 
P. Ross for president, William H. Seward, Jr., 
vice-president, John N. Knapp, secretary, Wil- 
liam C. Beardsley, treasurer and Theodore M. 
Pomeroy, attorney. The stock was speedily 
taken and by October, 1866, the company was 
doing business over the principal railroads and 
by the beginning of 1867 Auburn had become 
the center of a network of express lines which 
extended to every portion of the United States. 
The number of persons employed was over three 
thousand. The business was enormous but 
owing to deadly competition the losses were 
also enormous and eventually the competing 
companies effected a coalition under the name 
of the American Merchants Union, now known 
as the American Express Company. From that 
time until his death my father was closely iden- 
tified with this company as vice-president and 
general counsel. 

40 



In 1869 he was admitted to a partnership in 
the banking house of Win. H. Seward & Co., and 
at this time withdrew from the general practice 
of law and devoted himself to active business. 
Although connected as trustee with the Cayuga 
County Savings Bank and as director with the 
Oswego Starch Company, the Auburn Water 
Works Company and the Auburn Tool Company, 
his time and attention were principally given to 
the business of the banking house and that of 
the American Express Company. 

In 1875 and 1876 the Republicans elected him 
mayor of Auburn. His term of office was 
uneventful except that he made himself gener- 
ally popular while presiding at various public 
meetings. With true Republican spirit he 
spoke before a meeting of the St. George Society 
in April and again at a great meeting in Auburn 
in August of that same year, 1875, in honor of 
the anniversary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell, 
the Irish statesman and patriot. What he said 
in each instance while making his audience proud 
of its birthright, aroused no racial feeling but 
called out a feeling of loyalty to the United States 
and to Auburn. 

In 1876 Mr. Pomeroy was chosen as one of 
the delegates at large from his state to attend 
the Republican National Convention at Cincin- 
nati. He was made chairman of the delegation 
and was unanimously chosen as temporary chair- 

41 



man of the convention. There was a sharp 
fight on over the nominations of ConkHng, 
Blaine and Hayes. He alone was able to bring 
order out of the convention when the feeling 
was at its height and the permanent chairman 
had left the chair. His work at the convention 
was the subject of much favorable comment. 
In 1877 he was back again in the service of his 
party to run for State Senator. He did not 
want the office but was called upon to take the 
nomination in order to save his party from 
defeat in this district, then composed of the 
counties of Cayuga and Wayne. With his large 
experience as a legislator, his intimate knowl- 
edge of the state interests and his matured 
political sense and sagacity, he at once took a 
leading part in affairs. During his term of 
ofifice he held among other positions that of 
chairman of the committee on cities. 

In 1893, when Reverend Melancthon Wool- 
sey Stryker, D. D., was inaugurated as the 
ninth president of Hamilton College, Theodore 
M. Pomeroy, LL. D., of the class of '42, the 
oldest graduate present, delivered an address 
and committed to the new president the charter, 
the key and the seal of the college. 

My father's last public appearance was at a 
Cayuga County Bar dinner given at the Osborne 
House on the 5th of January, 1905, at which 
time he spoke on the events connected with the 

42 



early history of the Cayuga County Bar, dwell- 
ing on the judiciary of long ago. 

Although in his 8ist year he was at his desk 
at the bank each day and still erect and active, 
with hardly a grey hair in his head. Each month 
he spent part of a week in New York on the 
executive committee business of the American 
Express Company. He seldom drove but was 
extremely fond of walking. He had an active 
though never restless brain and body. In pleas- 
ant weather each morning before business he 
indulged in a brisk walk around flower and veg- 
etable garden with a climb over the back hill. 
For many years his vacation days were passed at 
his summer home on Owasco lake where the 
out-of-door life and recreations afforded him 
great pleasure. 

His death came unexpectedly. Toward the 
end of February, 1905, signs of failing strength 
were first noticed, a slight heart trouble having 
developed, and on the advice of his physician 
he remained at home much of the time. Books 
afforded him then, as always, much pleasure 
and a large part of each day was passed in his 
library. The end came suddenly at his home, 
168 Genesee street, on the afternoon of March 23, 
1905. Representative citizens of the state of 
New York joined with the city of Auburn in 
paying a last tribute to the memory of Theodore 
M. Pomeroy. The funeral services were held at 

43 



his home on Monday afternoon, March 27. Men 
high in business enterprises of the country, rep- 
resentatives of banking houses of the city, of 
the bar of the city and county and of institutions 
of learning and rehgion in which my father had 
taken an active part and with which he had been 
identified for years, were present with hosts of 
citizens from private life. 

On the afternoon of March 25, a meeting of 
the Cayuga County Bar Association was held in 
the court house at Auburn to take action on 
Mr. Pomeroy's death. From the oldest to the 
youngest member each speaker had something 
to tell of a personal kindness shown or some 
helpful advice given when most needed. Memo- 
rial services were held at the Central Presby- 
terian Church on Sunday, April 2, on which 
occasion Dr. M. W. Stryker, president of Ham- 
ilton College and Dr. Willis J. Beecher of 
Auburn, delivered addresses. Mr. Pomeroy was 
never a church member though he was a reg- 
ular attendant at the Central Church, having 
been interested in its organization at the time 
of the Civil war, and a faithful worker during 
the trials of its early existence. He had served 
as president of its board of trustees since 1872. 

In social life nothing outside of the home, to 
which he was devoted, appealed more strongly 
to my father than the City Club of Auburn of 
which he was a charter member and for two terms 



44 



its president. The club held him in strong affec- 
tion and he was deeply touched when on the occa- 
sion of his eightieth birthday, December 3 1 , 1904, 
the members presented him, at the clubhouse, 
with a greeting signed by the officers, directors 
and members of the club expressing their con- 
gratulations and felicitations. 

His active and eventful life was an example of 
rare talent employed without sacrifice of per- 
sonal or political integrity to promote advance- 
ment. He reasoned not so much "is this the 
law " as " is this right?" Each new position he 
adorned with frankness and genial courtesy and 
with marked ability both as a writer and an ora- 
tor. He died as he had lived, his interests undi- 
minished, his brain and energy active to the 
last. 



45 



3lt77-2 



